The
Saints extended several offers to Graham's camp, but they were still reportedly
millions of dollars apart. While the Saints are willing to make him the
highest paid tight end in NFL history, Graham wants at least $12 million a year,
which is treading into wide receiver territory for annual compensation.

Graham
was one of three players tagged Friday, joining Carolina Panthers defensive end
Greg Hardy and New York Jets kicker Nick Folk. The Saints placed the non-exclusive tag on Graham, according to ESPN.

Under the non-exclusive tag, Graham can negotiate a contract with other teams,
but the Saints would be given the right to match. If New Orleans decides not to
match, Graham's new team must give the Saints two first-round picks as
compensation. Graham would be paid a one-year salary based off the average
salaries of the top five players at the position for the past five years.

Graham
stated at the Pro Bowl in January that he would prefer not to be
tagged. "I'm not keen on the franchise tag ... but that is really all
I have to say about that one," he said.

But
with a long-term fight looming, it looked like there weren't many options for
the Saints. Graham's agent is expected to file a grievance contending Graham should be franchised as a wide receiver, not a tight end.

With
the 2014 salary cap set at $133 million, the franchise tag value for
a tight end will be $7.035 million, while a wide receiver will receive $12.312 million.

The
Saints have until this summer to agree to a long-term deal with Graham, who
doesn't have to sign his tender until July 15. However, he is technically not
under contract until then and cannot be traded or participate in any offseason
activities with the team until he does so.

Graham,
who was one of the lowest paid starting tight ends in the league in 2013,
earned around $1.3 million in the final year of his contract.

Graham's
agent, Jimmy Sexton, is expected to file a grievance through the NFL Players
Association, contending Graham should be paid as a wide receiver, not as a
tight end. His contention will be that Graham lined up more in a role befitting
a receiver, rather than at the end of the line in a three-point stance as would
a traditional tight end.

Graham
will be at the center of a groundbreaking procedure for the NFL, where an
arbitrator likely will have to decide how he should be paid.

It
could also set a precedent for other players to seek out an arbitrator to
decide what position at which they should be tagged. That's something
Baltimore Ravens defender Terrell Suggs threatened in 2008 when he wanted to be
designated as a higher-paid defensive end and not a linebacker.

Suggs'
camp eventually came to an agreement with the Ravens and he was paid an amount
that split the difference between the two positions. That increased his
one-year franchise tender from $8.065 million to about $8.5 million, and he
dropped his grievance.

That
could be a possible ending to the Graham saga too, if the two sides decide to
split the difference between tight end and wide receiver money. That would pay
Graham upwards of $9 million next season.

"We
had a similar situation when I was in Baltimore," said Indianapolis Colts
coach Chuck Pagano. "We had a huge discussion on, 'What do you consider
this guy, an outside linebacker, or is he a defensive end?' At the time,
defensive ends were getting paid a little bit more than outside linebackers.
There was a lot of work that went into that discussion.

"I
think it's the nature of the beast. It's where we're at today in the NFL.
Certainly it wasn't the first time that's happened. It won't be the last."

Bracing
for a fight

The
Saints were forced to go before an arbitrator during Drew Brees' contract talks
and lost the fight. When the Saints placed the franchise tag on Brees in 2012,
they were contending that it was his first time being tagged.

But
Brees also was tagged by his previous team, the San Diego Chargers, and said it
was his second franchise tag.

Arbitrator
Stephen Burbank ruled in favor of Brees, but the issue was dropped when Brees'
representatives and the Saints agreed to a five-year, $100 million contract
that summer.

The
Saints are likely bracing for a fight again. And with so much unknown at this
point, there's no real guarantee for either side.

"If
I were the Saints, I would be very leery because you never know what an
arbitrator will find persuasive," said Joel Corry, a former agent who
writes about salary cap issues for CBSSports.com. "I thought they had a
good chance with the Brees situation, and they lost that one."

Corry
also said it's possible the arbitrator could rule the Saints botched their shot
at the franchise tag by designating Graham the wrong position and therefore
missing the deadline, which would make Graham a free agent -- resulting in
the worst-case scenario for the organization.

However,
that seems unlikely, according to the NFL Network, which reported teams don't
initially have to specify what position at which the player is tagged. Instead,
he'll simply be designated as a "franchise player."

Does
the formation dictate a player's role?

The
Saints could argue that where Graham lined up wasn't necessarily an indicator
of what he did on a given play: If Graham initially lined up at tight end but
went in motion out wide, was that the role of a receiver? Graham's camp could
counter that he ran a route and was in the slot, the normal duties for a wideout.

The
position will be up to the arbitrator to decide.

And
Corry doesn't see many ways the dispute doesn't end up before a neutral
party.

As
the two sides work toward a long-term deal, the franchise tag situation is just
the beginning of a bigger issue. If Graham wants top-five wide receiver money,
he won't be getting it without a fight.

"He's
not getting Mike Wallace money (five years, $60 million) without filing that
grievance," said Corry, citing the receiver and New Orleans native who
signed as a free agent with the Miami Dolphins last offseason.

Graham
is expected to seek a deal that makes him at least the highest paid tight end
in NFL history. New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski signed a
record six-year, $53 million extension that included $16.5 million in
guaranteed money in 2012.

But if
Graham wins the franchise tag fight, he'll be seeking a long-term deal that
will pay him a salary similar to that of Wallace, Calvin Johnson of Detroit,
Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald, Dwayne Bowe of Kansas City and Tampa Bay's Vincent
Jackson. Johnson, the NFL's highest paid receiver, earns an average salary
of about $16.5 million.

Evolution of the position

Graham
is cited by many as the perfect example of a modern day tight end, one asked
not only to be an in-line blocker, but also line up in the slot and split out
as a receiver.

The
position has received more attention than ever with stars such as the 49ers'
Vernon Davis, recently retired Tony Gonzalez of Atlanta and Graham breaking out
from the crowded pack of receivers that once dominated the headlines.

Today,
tight ends are arguably being asked to do more than they ever have and the new
generation of players coming into the league are reflections of that.

"The
tight end has always been a guy that's going to block and be that extra tackle,
offensive linemen, but a guy who can catch the ball in the red zone, in the
open field," said University of Washington tight end Austin
Seferian-Jenkins, an NFL prospect. "Now you see more with how the NFL has
changed that guys are split out, they are in the slot, so the value has changed
because the tight end is being asked to do more."

In
2013, three of the top five leaders in receiving touchdowns in the NFL were
tight ends: Graham (16 touchdowns), Davis (13) and Broncos tight end Julius
Thomas (12). Rounding out the top 20 were Cowboys tight end Jason Witten and
Gonzalez with eight apiece.

A
year ago former Titans tight end Jared Cook also fought to be tagged as a
receiver. But instead of getting into a drawn-out battle, Tennessee let Cook
walk as a free agent. He signed a five-year, $35 million deal with the St.
Louis Rams shortly after hitting the open market.

Then
there's Baltimore Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta, who was injured most of the
2013 season but caught seven touchdown passes in 2012. Pitta was rumored to be
considering filing a grievance himself, but signed a five-year, $32 million
dollar deal on Friday.

"Our
game in the NFL has changed just like the college game," said Ravens
general manager Newsome, a Hall of Fame tight end. "They're not asked to
block as much as it was maybe when I was coming along in the early '90s."

Graham's
supporters will argue he deserves a huge contract after putting up 3,863
receiving yards and catching 41 touchdowns in his first four seasons. He has
earned two Pro Bowl berths, and was first-team All-Pro in 2013.

He
has led the Saints in receiving yards and touchdowns in two of the past three
seasons. If he keeps up his current pace, it's conceivable Graham could be
No. 2 in franchise history in receiving touchdowns and No. 4 in receiving yards
before the end of his fifth season in New Orleans.

But
Graham's detractors will point out his disappearance in some of the biggest
games this season.

In
the divisional round of the playoffs at the Seattle Seahawks, Graham was
targeted six times but caught only one pass with 24 seconds left.

Earlier
in the season against the New England Patriots, he was targeted six times and
came up empty against cornerback Aqib Talib. Graham exited that game injured,
and was later found to have a torn plantar fascia. He played the rest of season
with the lingering foot injury, and additionally played with an elbow injury
that required him to wear a protective sleeve.

'Meet
him halfway'

Graham,
27, is still relatively inexperienced in football years compared to some of the
other tight ends in the league. Graham played a season of high school football
and only one year at the University of Miami after exhausting his eligibility
on the basketball team. The Saints eventually selected him in the third round,
95th overall, of the 2010 NFL draft.

At
the 2013 Pro Bowl, Graham admitted to Gonzalez, considered by many to be the
best tight end of all time, that he still had some learning to do to become a
more complete player.

Graham's
blocking has often been called into question, and for that reason, Gonzalez
said, he's really more of a wide receiver.

"The
way they use him in that offense, with that scheme, he's a wide receiver. And
he even knows it, he's acknowledging that now. He doesn't really block,"
Gonzalez said on the "Doug Gottlieb Show." "He probably has his
hand in the dirt maybe five or six times per game and the rest of the time they
have him split out and used as a weapon in the passing game.

"If
you're going to franchise him, you have to franchise him as a receiver."

For
comparison, Gonzalez said he was used as an in-line blocker whenever the
Falcons ran running plays and was part of the overall blocking scheme. That's
not Graham's role right now, he said.

"At
the Pro Bowl this year we talked about it. I said 'Well, are you going to get
your hand in the dirt? Are you going to start blocking and being the complete
package?' It's a dual position," Gonzalez said. "And he was like,
yeah, he wants to, but he had a couple injuries, or hurt his elbow.

"Obviously
he's more effective in the passing game for that offense and they had another
tight end come in to handle the blocking responsibilities. But he said he wants
to be more of a complete tight end, so I'm going to hold him to it. Until then,
I'm going to say, you've got to call him an H-back or a wide receiver."

Gonzalez
said the Saints need to forget about franchising Graham and just pay him what
he's worth.

"Obviously
he's not going to get Megatron (Johnson) money, which is 15, 16 million dollars
like those big-time receivers, Fitzgerald and a couple of other guys," he
said "But I think in the double-digit millions is probably what he should
be paid at this point. ...

"For
what he brings to that offense, it's a huge mismatch no matter where he is on
the field. And the numbers he's putting up? Shoot, they're almost comparable to
Megatron and those other guys. So at the very least you've got to meet him
halfway. And hopefully they can get this done. I know they want to."

Setting
a precedent?

Graham
started last season with all the leverage after putting up 593 receiving yards
and six touchdowns through the first five games. However, his production
declined. After his quick start, he had 622 yards in the final 11 games, which
dropped his average from 118.6 yards receiving per game to 56.5 yards.

Nonetheless,
it's not Graham's production that's led to the dispute about what his true title
should be. It's reflected in language in the 2011 collective bargaining
agreement (CBA), which states a player's salary should be based on the position
"at which he participated in the most plays during the
prior League Year."

The
previous CBA, which was initially ratified in 1993, defined the exclusive
franchise tag as the position "at which he played the most games during
the prior League Year."

According
to ESPN, Graham lined up in the slot or out wide for 67 percent of his snaps
last season. While the NFLPA will likely argue it's a cut-and-dry issue due to
the new CBA, the Saints will likely counter the position has evolved enough
that the vague wording shouldn't apply.

"That'll
be the Saints' argument, that this is a natural evolution," Corry said,
"that this isn't like the days when Mike Ditka played and a tight end
shouldn't be constrained to lining up right next to the tackle."

The
Saints declined to comment specifically on negotiations with Graham's camp, but
general manager Mickey Loomis has made his position clear.

"This
business about what position he is? I think he's a tight end," Loomis said
at the Senior Bowl in late January. "That's where we drafted him. That's
where we play him.

"In
our view he's a tight end. That's what makes him valuable."

Loomis,
who has a vested interest in the situation, had understandably less to say than
some other coaches and GMs who were asked their thoughts on the evolution of
the position.

"Tight
end is definitely a position that has been evolving," said Atlanta Falcons
coach Mike Smith. "You can say that some tight ends think they are wide
receivers for a number of reasons. I think that position has become a hybrid
position, between a wide receiver and a tight end. The true Y tight end, you
don't see as many of them. ...

"It's
changing. Offensive coordinators are being very creative in how they align the
tight end. He can line up in that fullback position. He can line up as an
H-back. He can line up in the No. 1 wide receiver position as well."

When
asked specifically about Graham, Smith said: "This is a very competitive
league and as a player you should try to get paid as much money as you possibly
can."

Brees,
when was asked his opinion, said he considered Graham a tight end.

Perhaps
realizing his comments could hurt his teammate in negotiations, Brees literally
jumped on a table on the "Dan Patrick Show" during Super Bowl week to
profess his support for Graham.

"Whether
Brees thinks Graham is a tight end will ultimately be irrelevant (to the arbitrator),"
Corry said. "This is uncharted territory."

If
Graham wins his arbitration fight, not only will it give him most of the
leverage in contract talks, but it will also set a precedent for all NFL
players.

"It
would change the way the tight end franchise tag works," Corry said.

But
for all the talk and speculation, the player at the center of it all has kept
relatively quiet. Graham never publicly complained about his salary last season
and had little to say when asked about the matter in early February.

"That's
not for me to decide," Graham said at an adidas charity event with New
Orleans Pelicans guard Eric Gordon in the French Quarter. "I'm going to
do, and I'm going to play, whatever I'm asked to do.